Auction clearance rates have remained firm throughout March, leading experts to believe that sellers are adjusting to the conditions of the current market.
Auction clearance rates may be down from the same time last year, but they have improved from the last quarter, according to the latest results from CoreLogic.
The Weekend Market Summary for March 31 indicates there were 2,155 homes taken to auction across the combined capital cities this week, with preliminary results showing a 56.8 per cent success rate.
According to CoreLogic, Australia's largest markets have recorded preliminary clearance rates of between 50 and 55 per cent throughout March, signalling an increase from the end of 2018.
CoreLogic market commentator Kevin Brogan said the upward trend could be due to vendors adjusting their prices to suit the current market.
"I think sellers are matching their expectations to the market a bit better than they were towards the end of last year," he said.
"They've had time to get used to the climate, which has contributed to the rise in clearance rates."
At the same time last year, 670 homes going under the hammer across the combined capital cities at a clearance rate of 64.8 per cent, with the Easter weekend accounting for the lower volumes.
With this year's Easter weekend falling just ahead of Anzac Day, Mr Brogan said the expected rise in activity across the next couple of weeks would be a good test for the market.
"Most people will want to get their auctions in before the Easter weekend because Anzac Day is right afterwards," he said.
"It will be interesting to see whether there is enough demand to match the increase in volume."
Source: CoreLogic
Sydney hosted 789 auctions last week with a preliminary clearance rate of 65.9 per cent, reflecting a market rebound from the election week where there was a 52.1 per cent clearance rate across 506 auctions.
At the same time last year, the city had a clearance rate of 67.9 per cent across 394 auctions.
REINSW President Leanne Pilkington said there had been positive feedback from buyers.
"Agents are commenting on more buyers now out in the market looking for deals indicating improving opportunities for sellers who are prepared to meet the current price expectations," she said.
In Melbourne, a preliminary auction clearance rate of 53.4 per cent was recorded across 991 auctions this week, down from 55.1 per cent across 814 auctions over the previous week.
Last week’s clearance rate was the highest the city had seen since September 2018.
Over the same week last year, just 152 homes were taken to auction across the city, returning a clearance rate of 65.5 per cent.
REIV Chief Executive Gil King said there were multiple standouts in the state's metropolitan and regional areas.
“Craigieburn and Mount Waverley had the most sales with eight properties in each, followed by Essendon and Northcote with seven sales in each," he said.
“Caulfield and Highett cleared all their four listings via auction. Regional Victoria was led by Belmont, which also cleared all three auctions.”
Brisbane was the only city to see an increase of homes taken to auction last week, but there was a decrease in the clearance rate for South East Queensland.
Apollo Auctions Auctioneer Justin Nickerson said the region had "come back to the pack".
"Registration and attendance numbers were noticeably down on previous weeks as buyer indifference bothpre-auctionn and at auction was noticeably increased," he said.
"Despite this, a number of sales prior to auction were again recorded as sellers and agents continued to subscribe to the bird in the hand theory."
Similar to this:
Lower auction volumes across capital cities but clearance rates hold strong in Sydney and Melbourne
Auction activity continues to rise following seasonal downturn
Subdued auction conditions with clearance rates of 55.5 per cent